Have just been reading in Shorebirds what superb migrants HGs are. They rarely get lost and travel huge distances. Sadly, I think we've seen the last of this one as it will probably have very itchy feet and be powering north.
The bird was back this morning at 11.00. I waited half an hour to be 100% sure with a flight view when it stood out from the crowd with its black underwings.
Carl Bovis wrote ... 'Also saw a Sparrowhawk 'stoop' from a great height at prey in the treeline whilst watching the Hudwit, just like a Peregrine! Is this unusual? Never seen them hunting in this way before!'....
Hi Carl,
Great images of the Hudwit on your website - well done!
Concerning the 'soar and stoop' technique - yes, this is quite a common hunting strategy used by Sparrowhawk but it may be that some individuals select it far more than others and perhaps some hawks rarely or never use it at all. Shapwick Heath and environs seems to be a particular good area to observe this particular behaviour. In good weather you can often see it repeated several times over a period of few hours.
I arrived at Meare at 13.00ish not realising the Hudsonian was back,the Godwits were all flying round the scrape,i had v good views of it until 2ish when I left,it was nice to get good views of the dark underwing which I didn't see on sat,also present,a Ruff & LRP. Wonder if it'll be a long stayer??
I probably don't watch the sky enough!
This Sparrowhawk had been soaring, which I have seen many times, but it's sudden and long stoop to attack was a new one for me, but thrilling!
The Hudsonian G'Wit left the scrape in company with about 40 of the Blk Wit flock present heading west over Noah's at 2005 hrs.
Everyone present then departed and I left at 2015, as of then the bird had not returned nor had the Blk. Wits it left with!
I know that this site is for bird news, but just out of interest, why do Godwits fly off the scrape in the evening. Clearly the scrape is a safe environment and provides a good food supply as they return most mornings. So what else drives them off at night. Is it something like (a) a place to hide at night, (b) safety with bigger numbers of waders, (c) risk of a sudden rise in water levels (d) something else?
The Hudsonian Godwit still present on the Meare Heath scrape/drained lagoon today - from the pager messages it has been there since early morning (probably roosted there last night as it was still present at 8.45pm y'day evening), and still present 12.25pm at least.
The Hudsonian godwit was present from early morning apparently. It was there when I arrived at 8.10 and other visitors had been there a while before then. Also one Ruff, one Redshank and a male Garganey. At Noah's, one Common Tern, 3 Black headed gulls, still a few Wigeon around and a big flock of Sand Martins.
Hudsonian Godwit still Pres today. Also this am on Ham Wall/Shapwick 2 Garganey on Meare Heath, 2 Bittern, 4 GWE, 1 Cuckoo and 7 hobby. Photos on site.
